Abstract

Social and economic inequalities are at the heart of many
of today’s concerns. There are fears that the fruits of
economic growth have not been equally shared and
that the burden of economic recession will be unequally
distributed. Little progress is being made to overcome
longstanding inequalities in health and mortality. Gender
gaps have resisted legislative interventions. Groups such
as the Roma are living on the periphery of our societies.
The education system does not guarantee equality of
opportunity. Everyone may have a vote but great wealth
conveys political power. China and India may be growing
rapidly but global income gaps are widening because
much of Africa is being left behind. These issues of inequality have been the subject of much social science
research. The breadth of the topic, and the diversity of
research in different disciplines, is indeed such that it is
possible here to highlight only four of the many ways in
which social science has contributed to increasing our